this week on "power lunch." see you again soon. and that, folks, does it for another week of "power lunch." "street signs" begins right now. welcome to "street signs," everybody, on this friday. thanks for joining us. we've got more news on the fiscal cliff negotiations and the markets going forward but we begin with some breaking news from belize. john mcafee, who's been on the run essentially hiding on his own compound in belize is joining us now by telephone. robert frank has been following the story. he has been going back and forth with mr. mcafee and he joins us as well. robert? >> john, are you with us? >> i am with you, sir. hello, robert, hello, brian. >> good to hear you, john. john, tell us first of all, where are you? you've been in hiding, not telling anyone where you are all week. can you tell us roughly where you are? >> roughly where i am? well, where i am most of the time. i am certainly inside of my compound. >> so you're still in belize. do you know anything about this murder? did you know this guy who was

murdered, and did you have anything to do with it? this is what the police really want to know. >> i had absolutely nothing to do with it and i did know him but just barely. we spoke perhaps 50 words in five years. >> okay. tell us a little bit about this back and forth you had with the government. they raided your compound back in april. sounds like there were charges there. tell us about your relationship with the government and what's been the source of tension there? >> my relationship has never been good with the government. think this is certainly a beautiful country with many beautiful people. there are a few corrupt officials. unfortunately they are powerful at the highest level. i simply refuse to play by the rules. you know? i'm a foreigner. a rich foreigner and i'm expected to pay my dues, which is contribute to campaigns and give my due. i don't like extortion and refuse to do that. the net result is they stormed

my compound in april with 42 heavily armed soldiers, arrested me, kept me handcuffed for 14 hours, took me to jail and i was let out a few hours later because there were no charges. allegedly it's because i was operating a meth lab. i would not have the vaguest idea how to either make meth or sell meth especially in part after world where i'd have to compete with the mexican zeta gangs and it is not the type of busy would choose, sir. >> john, why not if you had nothing to do with this murder, why not turn yourself in? have a lawyer? you can get your own security guys -- the police have told me can you go in with security guys. can you go in with cameras. if you're fearing for your safety, why not just go in and tell them what you don't know about this murder? >> because it's fine to go in with security. it's fine to go with in cameras. but when i am detained, are you not allowed to go into the jail cell with plea. this is where people simply disappear. they choke on their own vomit or hang themselves or are beaten to

death by fellow prisoners. if you've done any research on belize and the legal and police system, you will discover disastrous results. >> do you really think they would kill you? >> absolutely, i do, sir. >> john, it's brian sullivan. what have the last five days been like? >> they've been okay. i don't have a lot of freedom of movement. the food is not best. i have no television. i would like a television. >> and john, what is the end game here? you can't hide forever. what is your ultimate goal? how is this going to pan out? >> the ultimate goal is they will figure out who killed the man. it will have nothing do with me an they will leave me alone, or if enough international pressure is applied -- not for me but for simply the legal system here, again, if you've done any research at all on the web, you will discover that the constitution here in belize is basically being usurped.

we are living in a near dictatorship where the legal system is subservient to the cabinet. the abuses of the gang suppression unit -- by the way, it is the gang suppression unit that invaded my property. that unit was created to deal with gangs. why are they raiding an american businessman? things do not operate here, sir, like they do in the states money. in the states i would be happy to turn myself in. this is not the states. >> john, you are an unusual guy. we see pictures of you with a lot of guns, with this spiky hair, tattoos, a lot made recently about the young girlfriends you've had there. a report now that you even played russian roulette with a bullet. is that report true? >> first of all, let's address this. when "wired" magazine sent a photographer down, you've been in the press long enough to know that when a photographer says let's take your shirt off, why don't you hold the shotgun, you simply do it.

that's what i did. if you think i run around shirtless carrying a shotgun on my property, that's utterly absurd. as to the russian roulette, absolutely. but it was not true russian roulette. if you read the story, put a bullet in the chamber, fire -- put it towards my head, clicked it dozens of times. walked outside, fired it into the sand, the bullet fired. my point was, life is not exactly what you see. >> john, have you been in touch with the u.s. embassy? >> i have not. >> why not? >> well, i mean what will happen? they will offer me either sanctuary, i'll spend my days living in the embassy like poor julian assange. or when i leave the embassy, i will be nabbed by the police. >> do you believe then they would essentially take the size of the belizean government? >> no at all. they'd do what they were supposed to do, guarantee my safe pass to the embassy, speak to the police and then they walk out. do you think that's going to prevent the police in detaining

me? >> john, you're still ostensibly a very wealthy man. why don't you just hire a chopper, couple guys to come in there and get you out of there. why are you so intent on staying? >> this is my home, sir. >> have you given up u.s. citizenship? >> no, sir. >> john, another thing -- what is the message that you'd like to get out there? you are in hiding but you have been talking to us and other media. what is the point of your communications this past week? >> well, i think that the world has largely ignored belize and the political situation and the plight of its people for -- because it's one of the smallest countries in terms of the world economy, one of the least significant. i would ask anybody who truly is interested in that to google a couple things. google the takeover of the belize telecommunications company.

it was owned by warren ashcroft. supreme court ruled that the takeover was illegal and orpded the government to return it. on the day it was supposed to have been returned, the government send in its soldiers to prevent lord ashcroft and the rightful owners from reclaiming it. this is the type of government we live in. number two, please google the abuses of the gang suppression unit. i think if you do that, you'll see the position that i am in and you will understand my reluctance to turn myself in. those are the only two things i ask the world to do. >> how far are you willing to go with this, john? >> all the way, sir. >> what does that mean? >> well, i will continue to fight this until i am -- as long as i'm still breathing. >> are you prepared to die? >> well, obviously that's what i think will happen if i am detained. that's certainly a possibility. >> we certainly don't wish that on you. john, somehow we hope that this ends peacefully with the killing of your neighbor being solved. john mcafee, be safe. take care. thank you for calling us. we do appreciate it. we know that it is a very, very

difficult time for you down in belize. >> thank you, gentlemen. so that was john mcafee, folks. back story in case are you unawa unaware, john mcafee was accus d of murder by the breezian government. a former software executive -- >> he is not accused of murder. he is a person of interest. he's wanted for questioning. he's not a suspect at this point. >> then why would they go on to his property? >> well, they went into his property back in april and they seized guns and -- >> but he claimed this week earlier that they were there, he was in hiding. is earlier this week. >> that's correct. then after that they went to every house around the victim's house. they went to every neighbor around the victim's house and interviewed people and in the case of john mcafee's house, they found guards with guns. they checked whether those guns were licensed. they weren't apparently. so those people have been arrested. i want to make very clear he is not a prime suspect. he's wanted as a person of interest and somebody for questioning. >> okay. i agree with that as far as the

letter of the law perhaps from what he's been accused of in belize, or at least suspected of in belize. but whatever you think of john mcafee, there's no doubt is he an intelligent human being. and if he believes that he will be killed if taken into belizean custody, and he believes he is a suspect -- >> no question. you're absolutely right. no matter what the government says, he's just a person of interest, we just want to ask you some questions, people do, according to mcafee, have a way of disappearing when they get arrested or they go in for questioning. that's what he's afraid of. again, i just wonder where does this go. does he hide out forever. >> a few things. robert, i got to say, i know you've been working on this story all week long. robert frank, everybody, got us the interview here. >> and jeff pullman, our producer. >> both of you guys have just done a stellar job. a lot of the world has been watching this. mcafee, the rumors around what he may have been doing in belize. he denied knowing he even knew how to make meth.

either way, no question is he an eccentric. your answer to his rooussian roulette i thought was very interesting. >> i wasn't clear on that. there was a bullet in that gun. right? he said it went off a dozen times, then he fired it into the sand. maybe it was a gun where he knew what was going to happen. look, he said those photos that we've all seen now of him with tattoos and rifles looking like heart of darkness were posed. he's always been an eccentric guy even before his fortune went from $100 million to $4 million and he went to the jungles of belize. that's part of why entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs. they live by their own rules. >> it is clear did he not trust, in some respects, the u.s. embassy. >> that's right. he and i talked about that before. he said why would i go to the u.s. embassy. the u.s. embassy said to me, i don't know that we would play a role here. i don't know that we have anything to do. if he's been asked for questioning, he should go in. >> robert frank and producer jeff pullman, thank you so much. the interview, if you missed it

or just joining us, the full interview will be up on cnbc.com. john mcafee, whatever you think of him, in a very difficult situation in the country of belize right now. robert, thank you so much. when we come back, we're going to give you more on the updated negotiations around the fiscal cliff. could we get a resolution soon? will the markets bounce back if we do? what's going to happen with hostess? is the company really done? there's a lot more to do here on "street signs." mandy's on "closing bell" today. you're stuck with me. back right after this. and my daughter loves the santa. oh, ah sir. that is a customer. let's not tell mom. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. make sure the news keeps coming with thinkorswim by td ameritrade. use the news links breaking stories with possible breakout stocks, options with potential opportunity, futures and forex with in-depth analysis.

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hard to follow up on that, but perhaps there is some good news this friday to report on the fiscal cliff fight. though the two sides still have very big differences between them, congressional leaders say they are confident they can reach a deal with the president. john harwood is live outside the white house with the first round of talks happening earlier today. john, what's the latest? >> reporter: brian, i don't think i can compete with that cloak and dagger that you were just reporting on a few moments ago but we did have an auspicious beginning to the negotiations between the white house and bipartisan congressional leaders here at the white house today. the president in the wake of his election victory gathered them together at the white house to try to kick off those talks. he did so saying that they're charged from the american people in this election to find a solution. >> our challenge is to make sure that we are able to cooperate

together, work together, fine some common ground, make some tough compromises, build some consensus to do the people's business. and what the folks are looking for and i think all of us agree on this is action. they want to see that we are focused on them, not focused on our politics here in washington. >> the good thing is, cooperation was the note that all of the leaders were striking when they came out, including the most important negotiating partner for the president. house speaker john boehner. >> i outlined a framework that deals with reforming our tax code and reforming our spending. i believe that the framework that i've outlined in our meeting today is consistent with the president's call for a fair and balanced approach. >> of course, the interview that we had, carl quintanilla and i had on "squawk on the street" with senator kent conrad, the

outgoing chairman of the senate budget committee, suggested a potential compromise on how to get top end tax increases. conrad said it's possible to get the amount of revenue you need. if you keep the top rate at 35%, raise cap gains and dividend rates and cut deductions for the top end. no sign that's going to be embraced in the end but at least it shows there's some bargaining room and space for these two parties to come together, brian. >> john harwood, thank you very much. i'm sure we'll see much more of you from the white house over the next couple of days. maybe even weeks, john. thanks very much. so what exactly is big business' role in all of this? john engler, president of the business roundtable and the former governor of the state of michigan. governor, thanks for joining us. how much say do you believe medium business will have in the negotiation? >> well, i think all of the job creators ought to have a role in this because economic growth is the third part of this. get the spending under control, get a competitive tax structure and turbo charge economic

growth. >> so, what would you do? you've been a politician, governor of a state. are you now representing corporations. those goals don't always line up. so what is the happy medium that we need to find here, governor? >> well, i think -- i do think john harwood's report and some of the quotes from the participants are positive signals. they're talking about putting a framework together. they're talking about putting spending on the table. they're talking about tax reform on the table. if they can get that kind of a framework, they can't do all of the particulars of reigning in entitlement or rewriting the tax code before the year is over. they can get that framework. that allows them to avert the fiscal cliff, just push it out five years, get that out of the way. that's a blunt unhelpful instrument. then get serious about what's the budget going to be for the rest of the fiscal 2013. tax rates for 2011. all those provisions expired last year.

2012 provisions. get those and then come back right after the first of the year and get the rest of these pieces in place. that's what the country really needs. that will give us a degree of certainty. they've got a whole lot of other things to work on after that that are what i call the growth agenda, but let's get the fiscal house in order and then we can pay our bills and we can plan for the future. >> governor engler, should the fiscal house have tax hikes? >> by that i mean the nation really having a trajectory so we're not putting trillion dollar deficits on the book year after year, so we can actually have an annual budget. the governors in both parties are meeting i think right around now and they're balancing budgets at the state level. they're making hard choices. washington has to do the same thing and actually they've got the luxury of being able to spread that out over a few years but they can't get there without getting started and hopefully today's meeting there is good will to go around.

there's been a lot of spelling out of my position and his position. now let's get an ours position and rise above everything as the phrase has been used and get this thing under way. >> governor, i believe you have just earned yourself a pin! >> very good. >> we will be sending you and your staff one for that rise above reference. governor, thank you very much. so, folks, we've heard from the white house. we have now heard from business. now time for congress to weigh in. joining us, representative tom price, chairman of the house republican policy committee. give us a reason, congressman, to be optimistic on this friday. are we closer to a deal than they we were yesterday? >> hey, brian. reason to be optimistic is congress usually acts when there is a deadline and the deadline is looming. think it was positive. speaker going to the white house today. i think the comments that we've heard have all pointed in the right direction. that is that we've got to be talking about revenue, yes. we've got to be talking about pro-growth policy and we've got to be talking about getting our spending under control. as long as those things are the

confines of where the solution is, then it can be a real solution as opposed to a solution that doesn't solve the problem. >> yes. i know the republicans are focused more on the spending side. perhaps as they should be. how flexible are you willing to be on the taxing side? >> as folks have talked about, you can -- we can increase revenue to the federal government through the tax code but we don't have to increase the rates. that's where senator conrad was trying to go with his proposal as i understand it. we've been talking about this for a long, long time. just to increase rates doesn't solve the problem. if it were to solve the problem, tlen, look, we're happy to talk about it. but increasing rates on job creators doesn't solve the challenge that we have in the economy. so we've got to talk about real solutions. can you get more revenue. can you put in place pro-growth policies and you can get a handle on spending here in washington. if we do that, that would be a major accomplishment and get this economy rolling again. >> it's interesting because, unfortunately, congressman, we

have the federal housing administration say basically they're $16 billion in hock. post office is going to be about $16 billion in hock this year. then i look at expected increase in revenues next year from just the income tax increase. the president would want. what i'm see something not quite the same, but doggone close. if we get the tax increase the president wants, is it really going to go to jobs and to growth and infrastructure? or is it just going to go to pay debts that we continue to incur? >> that's the great question, brian. look. again, if the tax -- if a tax increase solved the problem, then we'd be willing to talk about it. but the fact of the matter is it doesn't solve the problem. we need real solutions right now, not false solutions. the american people have said, look, get your job done. that's what they said in the election. just get back to washington and get the job done. tax revenue, yes. we need more tax revenue. can you do that in a number of different ways and pro-growth policy is the best way to do that. having an energy plan that

actually allows us to utilize responsibly the energy resources we have right here. a health care plan that is predictable for folks, that provides some certainty for job creators. then a regulatory scheme that isn't punishing those folks out there trying to create businesses and jobs. >> i've been tough on the republicans as well for not bending on an issue that is relatively small. the money that we're talking about is not that big of a deal. you guys have hurt yourself by not wavering. i will end with this, congressman. it seems the democrats are overselling the same dollars multiple times. we're going to use it for this, we're going to use it for this. in reality, a, it is not that much, and b, it seems like it's already spent. >> look, these folks seem to be more interested in increasing taxes as opposed to increasing economic activity. it's not increased taxes that will solve this problem. and raising taxes to chase ever increasing spending here is the definition of insanity. that's why we've got to get around that table and come forward with that common ground, common sense solutions again

that has tax revenue, pro-growth policies and spending reductions. if we do that, we will have a major accomplishment and get this economy rolling again. >> congressman tom price, pleasure, sir. good luck. i hope you guys get something nor all of america. rise above. get it done. >> happy thanksgiving. >> you, too. some breaking news now from israel. tanks and rockets stand at the ready. traders watching carefully. oil moving on every single report. we are live on the front lines coming up after the break. plus the latest on the breakdown with hostess. stick around.

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and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. all right. listen to that. we're about ready to turn positive on the dow jones industrial average. so a day that wasn't looking too great, a day with concerns about the middle east, day with concerns about the fiscal cliff looks like traders are starting to rise above. dow down .01%. i have a feeling we'll get there. the momentum is headed that way. speaking of the middle east, just moments ago the israeli defense minister asked the parliament to authorize mobilization of 75,000 troops. jerusalem and tel aviv both coming under rocket fire today.

this is the first time that jerusalem had been fired upon since 1970. at least 85 rockets have been fired coming from the gaza strip. nbc has a reporter in gaza city. it is a very tense situation. it seems to be heating up not cooling down. what is the latest right now at night where you are? >> reporter: well, you could probably see behind me it's pitch black. there's no activity here in gaza. it is the weekend. the streets should be bustling, shops should be open, but in fact all we're really hearing are the sounds of israeli drones above gaza city and the sound of israeli f-16s -- or fighter jets, rather and every once in a while we hear the sounds of loud explosions. here in gaza city we're getting reports of similar attacks all around gaza. we've confirmed an israeli air strike targeted four members of hamas' military wing. we understand all four of them were killed in that israeli air strike. every once in a while we are hearing the sounds of

palestinian rockets being launched from gaza. that's on the military side of things. but from a humanitarian perspective, from here in gaza on the street level, people here are extremely anxious, extremely nervous. very much praying about what not only comes in the coming days but what nighttime brings because during the nighttime that's when there really is an intensification of the israeli air strikes and the way gaza is, it is densely populated. 1.5 million people living in an area. when there is an israeli air strike that targets a car, the civilian population bears the brunt. the death toll so far has included six palestinian children and at least half-a-dozen of those tho have been killed are civilians. there's no doubt there is a great sense of anxiety with the thousands of soldiers now amassing on the gaza border on the israeli side that a ground invasion is imminent. that would certainly put gaza in a much more difficult situation than it has seen in the past 72 hours. supplies are dwindling. the price of food has soared. people here are extremely

nervous. >> ayman, be safe in gaza city. joining us now, rick wittington, aerospace and defense analyst at drexel hamilton. we talked about 75,000 israeli troops being mobilized. those troops take gear. what does this conflict mean for american defense companies? >> it probably doesn't yet have a big influence on the defense stocks which, as you know from your earlier comments are, frankly, dancing to the tune of the budgetary politics in washington. >> okay. so you have to analyze this though not just looking at these companies. you've got to sort of predict what may happen here. what is your best guess? does this heat up or does this cool off? >> well, israel's enemies to their frequent chagrin to periodically test israel's resolve. we haven't seen the israelis

back down too often. so i would guess this doesn't get beyond the level that we're at right now, but we're going to be watching that over the weekend. >> all right. rick whitington, thank you for joining us on short notice. let's hope this cools off and cooler heads do prevail. let us gets down to sharon epperson at the nymex. mideast crisis not the only big oil headline today. there was another very scary situation in the gulf of mexico, sharon. >> earlier this morning, brian, it was definitely the story that traders were talking the most about. this fire, explosion off the gulf of mexico in the gulf, off of the louisiana coast. a rig owned by black elk energy oil and gas rig there, about 5 miles off the coast of the grand isle, louisiana did explode this morning and in fact two people were killed. two people are still missing. four have been taken to a local hospital. we are hearing that from the

jefferson county parish president, john young, who tells us that the fires are now out, that there was no production going on at this facility. while there has been loss of life, there has been no environmental impact from what happened in the gulf this morning. the reaction that we're seeing in the oil price initially we did see and reaction about $1.50 move higher for the wti contract. prices now really seem to reacting and traders seem to be talking most about what we just heard from gaza. watching very carefully what's haere in gaza. the escalating conflict. also paying attention to the u.n.'s latest report on iran and its nuclear capabilities seemingly closer than we had first anticipated. and also watching the protests in jordan. so a lot swirling around in the middle east. that is why we're also seeing brent crude prices near $109 a barrel and more than $20 premium of brent to wti. back to you. >> sharon, thank you. let's go to breakdown, look at the stock market. lot of you sharp-eyed viewers out there tweeted me saying,

dull va sullivan, we're selling off in the last hour. but we are still 60 points below our low for the session. we've been up 60, down 60. it is that kind of a volatile day. still, i appreciate all of you especially those who call me names. pins for each of you! our exclusive interview with john mcafee, dramatic from belize. some of the things he said. hard to believe. we'll wrap that up, give you more on the markets and more on the fiscal cliff. more on hostess coming up. bob, these projections... they're... optimistic. productivity up, costs down, time to market reduced... those are good things. upstairs, they will see fantasy. not fantasy... logistics. ups came in, analyzed our supply chain, inventory systems... ups? ups. not fantasy? who would have thought? i did. we did, bob. we did. got it.

as we noted, mandy will be on "closing bell." five names starting with jetb e jetblue, recent rally slowing risk to the downside. jet fuel prices down helping airlines. their new target -- $4.50, down from -- 4.50% down from 5%. penn national gaming saying they're going to split into two different companies and create a casio reit. $15.40 dividend for one of those new companies per share. deutsche bank likes the move. $48 target there.

mgm. hedge funders getting big near this game, up the stake from 2 million shares to nearly 7 million. mgm has had a tough year so far. the gap. gps. that stock higher. same-store sales rising, the company raising full year guidance by a nickel a slayer. uptick in sales at banana republic and old navy helping out. net income jumped 60%. upped to a hold from a sell. hardly, though, a vote of confidence. and a final stock which is actually three. amazon, applied microcircuits and vantiv. all three together because they're added to the conviction buy list at evercore. those are the best ideas out of that firm. they say the conviction buy names are expected to return at least 25% or more. their targets amazon, . ceo jeff bezos expects a

record holiday shopping season for amazon and on the "today" show this morning, he said he's not really worried about his brick and mortar competitors and their same day sales gimmicks. >> e-commerce even from its very beginning has been hypercompetitive. that's a good thing for customers and even good for the companies that embrace that dynamic. >> they're forcing you to innovate as well. >> always. that's what happens in businesses, companies force each other to innovate so we have to evolve. and we are. we're providing better customer experience today than we ever have. >> let's bring in a product strategist. not afraid of the brick and mortars. should he be? >> i don't think. they've done a really nice job and especially with the holidays coming up. they've got a compelling holiday offering for holiday shoppers. a couple of weeks ago i needed to buy a book, was at the book store, saw something cute i thought my niece would like.

scanned the bar code, her address was already on file and she got it two days later. you can't beat that convenience. can you do your shopping and have it sent right away. you don't are to lug it with you or take it to the post office. that's compelling. >> how compelling is amazon though as a company that's trading at, what? 6,000 times expected forward earnings? >> i look at amazon and i think it's probably the world's most successful non-profit. they really -- >> you're not make being the case for -- you're making a great case for the company. not making a great case for shareholders. though one has been made for them in the wallet the last few years. >> it's a great product for consumers but i just look at it and they have margins like grocery stores. it's not putting out the kind of returns that a google or apple historically has. at some point they need to really step it up in terms of monetization for their shareholders. i was talking to a friend of mine about a new product amazon

launched called amazon locker that lets you pick up your stuff at a staples or radio shack store. i explained to them, this is great for the long run. he said, well, when's the long run going to arrive? it just doesn't ever get here. >> rocky. here's the thing. if it's good for shareholders, that means earnings probably went up. if earnings probably went up, that means that profit probably went up, which means costs to the consumer probably go up. which reduces amazon's competitive advantage. can they be both, a, better for shareholders, and, b, better for customers? i find those two things sometimes very hard to match. >> absolutely. i think right now the stock is priced as if amazon will drive everybody under and they'll have infinite pricing power. that can't possibly happen. if they're able to raise prices at that level, they'd create room for other competitors to come in and undercut them. zlp rocky, thank you very much for joining us. we'll join you again -- it's

cyber monday which we're not allowed to say on "street signs" orvy to ban myself from the show but i'm sure on cyber monday or thereabouts, we'll see you again. have a great thanksgiving. >> thank you. folks ghb case you missed the top of our broadcast, our headline making exclusive interview with john mcafee from belize saying he doesn't know if he's going to get out of there. that he thinks the belizean police will kill him if he turns himself in. he joined us by phone. we're going to recap that exclusive and pretty amazing interview from john mcafee coming up. ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this.

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i'll bill griffeth. coming up on "closing bell," we'll hear from a pair of walmart workers who plan to walk off the job on thanksgiving. then we get reaction from the retailer itself about this growing protest around the country. plus, fiscal cliff fears. td ameritrade's ceo tells us exclusively whether going over the cliff could permanently harm investor confidence. and delta airlines.

very interesting, saving big bucks by refurbishing older jets instead of buying new ones. how much does age really matter whether it comes to safety? we'll have the answer coming up. brian, thank you for rising above and sharing your co-anchor with me today. mandy and i will see you at the top of the hour. >> i hope those old planes are able to rise above successfully, bill. you're making me nervous. >> not to worry. you think they would put a bad plane in the air? come on. >> i'll keep mum on that one. folks, let us continue on with our story. if you missed the top of the show, very powerful interview that was landed by robert frank and producer jeff pullman with john mcafee who claims to be under threat from belizean police and is the possible suspect -- or a person of interest in a murder. we got a phoner with him at the very beginning of the show. quite dramatic, robert frank, great reporter as he is, gets the belizean police side of the story on this now. they are telling a very different story than john mcafee. >> they are. it is important to get both

sides of this story. right? what mcafee told us though he is wanted for questioning in a murder, he fears for his own life. police tell me, "it's lied krud. we don't go around killing people." they said quite a few people in belize get away with murder. it's strange rationale -- >> that's a bizarre thing for the police to say. no problem, everybody here gets away from murder. we would never catch him anyway. >> strange thing to say. they also say he talked about this gang suppression unit being a bunch of thugs. they kill people in jail. i asked them. they said they have a professional standards branch that handles criticisms or comments of the police just like any other police force. they say he's simply wanted for questioning. they say mcafee just turn yourself in, we don't know why he's behaving like this and we are not the brutal police force you are making us out to be. >> there is a giant disconnect in this story somewhere. >> look. it is so strange.

here's a guy who's wanted for questioning in a murder but he's fearing for his life. just very strange kind of third world rationale for all this. >> so in our interview, your interview that you landed, you let me be a part of it. i appreciate. we ended the interview, me asking him a very specific question. john mcafee, are you prepared to die? >> how far are you willing to go with this, john? >> all the way, sir. >> what does that mean? >> well, i will continue to fight this until i am -- as long as i'm still breathing. >> are you prepared to die? >> well, obviously that's what i think will happen if i am detained. that's certainly a possibility. >> he basically admitted -- i mean this is, unfortunately -- listen, i don't know john mcafee. know his legacy, i know his history. i know his company, right? the antivirus software company. seems very unlikely that john mcafee is going to leave belize alive. >> i don't know. i hope he does. >> so do i. >> his end game here, which was

interesting -- he said i'm just going to hide until they find the real killer. right? and when i talked to belize, police right now, they say they don't have any other suspects. they just recovered the bullet shells -- the bullets from the body so they're just starting their investigation. so this could take a long time and, look, i'll take mcafee at his optimistic word. maybe they will find the real killer. he'll come back and live his normal life. >> you can't script this. for folks who don't know the story, for the six people out there who maybe now aren't aware of this story at this point, the fellow that died was a fellow american. a carpenter from florida who had moved to belize as well. apparently mcafee had a number of dogs. his dogs ended up dying one day. he either believed or thought the neighbor or the black ops of belize poisoned or killed his dogs. correct? it's not like this just came out of nowhere. >> well, did he have some disagreements with his neighbor --

>> greg foal or foul? >> mcafee's compound was raided in april. after that he got a lot of security, guns and dogs because of the lpolice. this neighbor was saying these dogs were overly aggressive on the beach and they complained. it is unclear when we talked to mcafee there was really that much of a rift there. i think we can maybe make too much of that motivation. >> mcafee has been rumored to be involved possibly with the creation of narcotics. that's a fair thing to say. correct? >> that's correct. >> he denied during our interview knowing how to make meth. there are many other drugs out there. nobody is accusing him of anything. but is it possible that a lot of this is related to john mcafee having a paranoid breakdown of some kind? >> i was surprised -- >> i'm not doubting him. he's the one that's down there. but the story doesn't make sense in some respects. >> look. he admitted to us on tv that he played russian roulette with a bullet -- >> but not the usual kind! not the deer hunter kind. >> right. some other kind. there was still a bullet in that

gun. so we know he's kind of a wild guy, lives on the edge. but that's different from saying, is he a meth maker, did he kill somebody. i think there are just a lot of wild stories out there that went too far. i was surprised how lucid and cogent and rational he sounded to us on the air. that did not sound like a man -- >> nobody's ever denied his intellect. right? he's a very smart, if not exs eccentric fellow. but smart. >> i think he sounded calm and rational although he thinks the government's trying to kill him. >> robert frank, the story is not over. thanks for joining us. great get. please keep us informed. robert frank, thank you very much. we'll go to belize this weekend, you and i. i'm getting a lot of heat for saying we were doing well. guess what? we're up now ten points. yes, we fell 50 points at the beginning of the show, we were down 60 points but still i don't spend every moment staring at a screen with numbers going up and down. got to prep for fine interviews

like the one robert delivered for us as well. there well. there are are your markets up across the board. coming up, what is behind this door? it is something that has everybody in america clamorring to get their hands on. that's a cnbc hallway. this will be a cnbc exclusive coming up. if we want to improve our schools... ... what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ... nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this.

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all right. we went to break and showed you mystery door. we said behind this door is something all of america is clamoring for. it's all the rage on social media. we're going to show you what's behind our cnbc mystery door. oh. >> busted. >> the hoarding of hostess and the host today of the clo"closi bell." mandy, enjoy. should be a delicious couple of hours. all right. that's what's happening here at cnbc hq, jane wells. how's your stockpile coming along? >> well, ding dong the twinkies dead. not here at this albertson's.

we found six boxes left. i just left a vaughn's where they've had a run on everything since 5:00 a.m. this morning. i have at a kroger-owned ralph's where someone bought a box of hostess cup cakes for his girlfriend. he's been store hopping. another guy got the last box of ding dongs in the store. sellers on ebay testing what price the market will bear. $10,000 for a box of twinkies? >> there's a box of twinkies in that grocery store. not just any box of twinkies, the last box of twinkies that anyone will enjoy in the whole universe. believe it or not, twinkies have an expiration date. >> all right. that's a very funny movie, but this is not funny for the 18,000 people who have lost their jobs. the ceo tells us everyone is to blame at hostess. >> you add on work rules that

say that, you know, one person has to drive the cake, one person has to drive the bread, and, you know, you can't do it all in one truck. i mean, there's blame for everyone. >> of course, one man's disaster is another man's opportunity. steven sing is defending the hoste hostess. quote, they hold an 8 to 9% market share in bread. the iconic twinkies, hostess, and wonder bread brands would fit in break with flowers' brand portfolio. quote, urgent, we'll trade the entire nuclear arsenal for the last existing box of twinkies. okay, thanks, bye. >> i'd rather have the yodels. they'd probably last longer. you bring up a great point. thank you. listen, the key is this. nobody is making light of the story.

there is demand for this product. they couldn't reach out a deal. i think everybody here at cnbc is hoping that a deal can be reached, whether or not it's a buyer, a private independent equity firm or a rich guy who says let's keep an a american institution going. we are approaching the holidays. nobody wants to see anybody lose their job much less before the holiday break. hey -- >> thank you. >> happy holidays from "street signs" to mandy drury. all right. cracker jacked. forget the little toy. there's something else hid hadden inside that box of cracker jacks. we'll tell you what it is coming up. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards!

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[ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. welcome back. cracker jacks have a new surprise inside. caffeine. pepsi is rolling out a new line of the snack call eed cracker jack'd. sadly, as a hokey who lost a bet, i have to wear a miami hurricanes hat for the rest of the show. it hurts me and these as much as it hurts you, folks. believe me. so mike jackson, here's your hurricane hat. i always honor my bets. all right. thanks for watching "street signs," everybody. mandy